Sarah-Jane Trent, a lawyer and former assistant to certified fraud investigator Paul O’Sullivan confirmed to a Parliamentary Committee that she had a “relaxed relationship” with former head of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Robert McBride.
Testifying before the committee on Thursday, Trent initially said it was a normal relationship.
“I don’t know what word to describe it better. It was a short time, we entered into a relationship. It wasn’t love,” he said. Responding to the Chairman of the committee, Soviet Lekganyane, Trent said that they saw each other regularly. “There were feelings for each other, but there was no ongoing relationship. I don’t really know how to explain it. It wasn’t the kind of thing where we said we love each other and I’ll do anything for you.”
Lekganyane described this as “friends who help each other”. But the one who led the witnesses said that there is a modern word that is used, ‘situationship’.